


The Boy Behind The Fence

by Hashtagmavin



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Angst, Heavy discussion of past abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2013-10-05
Packaged: 2017-12-28 13:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hashtagmavin/pseuds/Hashtagmavin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(15 year old AU) Michael’s family has just moved to a new home, and he quickly becomes friends with his next door neighbor through the fence in their backyard. But as he talks more and more to the young boy, he realizes that something isn’t right, and Michael’s determined to find out what it is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Hashtagmavin.tumblr.com on July 29 2013

Michael looks at the dull boring houses outside his car window. There were children outside playing hopscotch or basketball, but he didn’t care. He was too busy wallowing in depression to take interest in anything that was happening in this new town.

He missed New Jersey. He had friends there, and he didn’t want to leave them. Making new friends was just going to be an annoying hassle. It seemed a lot easier to just ignore everybody as best as he can and just pull through the upcoming school year with as minimal social interaction as possible.

But it was still the middle of summer, so luckily he has a month until he has to deal with that.

As the memories of his old school wash across his brain, he doesn’t notice that the car has parked.

They’d already had all of their furniture and belongings inside the new house, packed up in boxes and tape. Having to unpack all of his things was just another reason he was fed up with having to move.

His father was transferred here for his job, and since his mother works from home, it was easy for them to just up and move to Austin, Texas. It was easy for _them._  Not for their fifteen year old son.

Michael gets out of the car and stretches his legs, as he looks up at his new house. It’s simple, and the same size as all the other houses on the street. But he doesn’t care much for that. He figures he’ll be spending most of his time cooped up in there anyway.

His mother stands up next to him and throws a loving arm over his shoulder, “Isn’t it nice?” she beams as they both stare up at it.

"Yeah, sure."

The smile falls off of her face at his monotone answer, and is replaced with a look of pity. She lets out a sigh. “I know you didn’t want to move, Michael. But look at it this way, it’s like a brand new adventure!”

His mother’s optimistic attitude forces him to crack a smile. She’s always so upbeat and happy.

"Go on and explore the house a little. We can take care of this stuff." his father calls out. And they start working on getting all the extra luggage out of the trunk.

He doesn’t need to be told twice, and quickly runs up to open the front door to his new home. Helping with the unpacking isn’t something he wants to be stuck doing.

He scans the inside and tries not to be too judgmental of the house. It’s simple, but nice. Sort of empty looking, but he figures that will change when all of their boxes are unpacked and everything is cleaned.

Their old house was better.

He’s looked around for about five minutes when his parents finally make it through the door. He’s already claimed the bedroom across the hallway upstairs as his. And he’s made himself familiar with the layout of the house in that short amount of time, and now he’s just wandering around aimlessly, trying to find something interesting.

"Do you like it?" his mom asks.

"Yeah, it’s nice." he nods.

As soon as the smile graces her face he knows that he’s willing to push aside any whiny complaints he has about moving so that she’ll be happy.

"The backyard is nice too, go on and take a look."

He doesn’t want to act like a little brat about moving. Sure, he hates it and he wishes he could be back at his old house playing video games with his friends. But he doesn’t want his parents to feel guilty for making him do this.

He’s able to get to the backyard through the sliding glass door in the kitchen. It lets out to a small wooden patio, and Michael just stands there for a while, looking at the boring backyard and the trees inhabiting it.

It’s enclosed with a really tall white fence. But from where he’s standing he can see that every house has the same size backyard and the same kind of fence.

This whole town is so boringly cliche and unoriginal. It’s like something out of a lifetime movie.

He walks down the patio steps and is almost impressed by how green everything is. It seems the previous homeowners took good care of their backyard.

It is pretty big though, and he figures that he might be able to guilt his parents into buying a pool so that he’ll have something to do around here.

Then a loud crashing noise catches his ears, and his head snaps over to find the source. Even though the cracks in the fence aren’t very wide, he can see through enough to make out movement behind them.

"Oh, bollocks." he hears a voice mutter. It sounds like a boy, with a very thick British accent, but he still sounds young.

"Who’s there?" Michael calls out, and begins walking toward the fence.

"Sorry! Sorry, it’s just me. I fell over a bucket." the same voice responds to him.

By now he’s reached the fence and holds his face up to it so that he can look through the gap, and sees a young boy around his own age, sprawled in the grass, his feet somehow tangled up in a bucket.

Michael raises an eyebrow in confusion, “You tripped over a _bucket_?”

"Yes." the guy sees him watching through the fence, "I trip over it quite a lot."

"Wow, you’re an idiot." Michael mutters as he watches the guy successfully get up off of the ground without tripping again.

He often insults people like that. His short temper, and bad mood already isn’t matching well with this weird and awkward British guy. It seems inevitable that he’d start being rude.

But Michael cringes a little as soon as the words leave his mouth. He doesn’t want to come off as a major asshole, especially to somebody’s he’s just met, and will be living next to.

But the guy takes no offense to his insult, and just smiles at him, “My name’s Gavin, what’s yours?”

"Michael."

Gavin stands up and brushes the dirt off of his clothes, “What are you doing in the Jefferson’s back yard?”

That must be the people who lived here before. He briefly remembers his parents saying that name during the car ride, but he didn’t pay much attention due to his lack of interest in the subject.

"They don’t live here anymore. My family and I just moved in." he explains.

They’re close enough to the fence that they can both sort of see each other without risking the possibility of getting splinters in their faces.

The fence is made of wood that’s spaced from each other a little. There’s maybe a two inch gap between each piece of wood, which is pretty spacious for a fence.

Michael takes this time to study the boy and take in his appearance. His light brown hair is so messy that it almost seems like it’s never seen a brush in years. He also has a slightly big nose, but it kind of suits him. Overall he’s pretty attractive, and Michael wants to smack himself for even noticing that fact.

He also notices the large black bruise that’s coloring his forehead. Gavin’s obviously pretty clumsy considering the fact that he tripped over a simple bucket, so it doesn’t seem very unlikely that he’s fallen over and gotten hurt before.

"Really?"

Gavin seems surprised by that. It seems sort of odd that he’d know his neighbors names but not know if they were still living there.

"Yeah, you didn’t know that?"

"Nah, I’ve never actually talked to them. Sometimes whenever I’m out here I’d hear them talking to each other though. I’d noticed they hadn’t come outside in a while. They had a dog named Charlie that would lick my hand whenever I’d stick in through the fence." Gavin muses, and Michael rolls his eyes.

He obviously rambles a lot, and even though that British accent is really cute, it’s also very annoying.

"So you would just listen to your neighbors everyday like a creep?" Michael questions.

He’s sort of hesitant about talking to this kid, he seems kind of weird. But something about him is also amusing and funny, and that side makes Michael want to stay here and continue talking to him.

Gavin’s eyes widen, “No! No of course not! It’s just…Well, there’s not much to do around here. Pretty boring, if I do say so myself. I’m not really allowed to leave the house, but whenever my parents aren’t home I always sneak out and spend the day in the backyard.”

"You’re not allowed to leave the house? What the hell does that mean?" he questions, his eyebrows scrunched together in annoyance and confusion.

This kid isn’t making much sense to him, and it’s starting to piss him off.

But it also seems that he doesn’t know the answer either, his eyebrows raise in confusion, as though he’s never thought about it before.

"I’m not sure." he shrugs, and then quickly tries to change the subject, "So how old are you, Michael?"

"I’m fifteen." he answers. Gavin obviously doesn’t want to talk about it, so he’s not going to push the subject. He doesn’t really care much for making friends around here, but if he does then he’s not going to complain. Sure, Gavin’s pretty odd and slightly annoying, but he’s also pretty amusing.

"Me too!" he grins, and his eyes shine with excitement over that fact.

"Cool, maybe we’ll see more of each other then." Michael says while nodding absentmindedly.

Going to a new school will be a lot easier if he already knows somebody there. A huge weight is lifted off his shoulders at the thought of not being alone on his first day.

Gavin’s about to respond when a voice cuts them off.

"Michael!" somebody yells, and he looks over to see his mom at the door, "Come help us unpack, please!"

"One minute!" he yells back to her.

He doesn’t really want to leave his only friend yet. He’s still sort of bitter about this whole situation, but Gavin was able to take his mind off of it and make him laugh.

"Is that your mum?" Gavin asks.

"Yeah, we only just got here like fifteen minutes ago, so they’re going to need my help getting every situated." he explains briefly, not wanting to bore him.

But that doesn’t seem possible. When he sees how interested Gavin is in the small explanation, he wants to continue talking. Is Gavin really that bored that a small amount of social interaction from his new neighbor is interesting to him?

"Well, are you going to come back later?"

"If you want." he nods, then thinks about what Gavin said earlier. Maybe his parents really don’t want him leaving the house when they’re not home. He does seem pretty unreliable. The guy just tripped over a bucket and nearly killed himself. "What time do you parents come back?"

His eyes widen at that sentence, “What time is it?”

"I think around five."

"Oh crap, I’ve got to get back in before mum and dad get home or I’ll be in  _big_ trouble!” he says quickly, and turns away so that he can run to the house.

"Wait, dude!" Michael calls out.

Gavin turns around and looks at him, still desperate to get into his house as fast as possible. Michael wonders why if his parents would really be  _that_ mad at him for simply going outside.

"Let’s hang out again sometime!"

He doesn’t really want to lose contact with this guy. The rest of his summer is going to be super boring and dull, but if he can be friends with Gavin then it’ll make things a little more interesting at least.

A huge grin spreads across Gavin’s face, and he yells out, “Yeah! Of course!” before disappearing into his house.

Gavin seems like a cool kid. He might be kind of annoying and idiotic, but he’s still funny and nice. He doesn’t even get upset when Michael makes mean jokes about him, and he’s probably the first person to ever not take him seriously like that. He decides, right then and there, that he likes Gavin.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the course of the summer, they end up talking outside that fence for hours. Just making dumb jokes and calling each other idiots over stupid things.

Gavin’s actually a really good guy. He’s still super annoying and loud sometimes, but it’s easy to get used to. They both have the same sense of humor, and even though Gavin doesn’t really seem to understand any references he makes, it’s still funny to tell them anyway and then call him an idiot for not knowing simple things like that.

"You’ve never heard of  _Adventure Time_?” he asks incredulously.

"Nope, what is it?"

"It’s this kids show that basically everybody loves. Even adults love it. How could have  _not_ heard about it!?” Michael laughs, and it causes Gavin to laugh too. “You’re an idiot.”

"Don’t be so mean, Michael!" Gavin continues on laughing.

He wishes that they didn’t have the fence between them so that he could playfully smack him on the shoulder or something. It’s so weird talking to somebody and having such a low amount of physical interaction with them.

But there was something that was still really odd about Gavin.

Sometimes he’d would say something really weird, and it would catch Michael off guard so much that he’d constantly think about it.

Like he didn’t know who the president was, and he didn’t know any celebrity names that Michael listed off.

Sometimes he’d stay up all night, tossing and turning, trying to figure out why Gavin didn’t understand certain concepts, or seemed completely oblivious to everything that was going on in the world.

One day there were sitting at the fence and Gavin was reminded of his parents coming home early from work.

"What time is it?" he asked, and it reminds Michael of the first day they met, which was only a few weeks ago.

Michael feels his pockets for his cellphone, but what he pulls out is his PSP. He was playing it earlier before he came out to see Gavin, and he must have put that in his pocket instead of his phone.

"I don’t know, dude. I’ve only got my game on me. But I assume it’s around five." he shrugs.

Michael’s worried for a moment when he looks at Gavin’s face and sees how fixated he is on the PSP. He looks so confused and amazed, as though he’s never seen one before.

"What’s that?" Gavin asks, forgetting all about his question and focusing all of his attention on the object in Michael’s hand.

"This?" he holds up the small black device, "It’s a PSP. You’ve… never seen one before?"

"No. What is it?"

That confuses Michael even more. Gavin is the same age as him, he should know what a PSP is. Nearly all the kids Michael knows has one. They were just as common as cell-phones among his friends. Maybe Gavin just isn’t all that interested in games?

"It’s a handheld game. Ya’know, like a portable PS3."

"What’s a PS3?"

Maybe Gavin’s just an idiot. “…It’s a type of game, you moron.”

He turns on the device and it lights up when it comes to life, but not as much as Gavin’s eyes do.

"I have a racing game in there right now." Michael explains softly, not looking at the game. He just watches through the fence how fascinated Gavin’s facial expression is.

Something is going on here, and the feeling in his stomach tells him that it isn’t anything good. But he feels as though he can trust Gavin, and slides the game through the gap in the fence.

"Here, wanna try it?"

"For real?" Gavin asks, hesitant to even touch the device.

"Yeah, man. Go for it." he shrugs.

The next few minutes are filled with Gavin asking numerous questions about the PSP and trying his hardest to understand the controls and concept. It’s like he’s seriously never heard of a video game before in his life.

Soon Gavin’s hesitation towards playing the game turns to full on amusement. Judging by the noises coming from the game, he’s crashed into a wall and is stuck. But he doesn’t give it back and ask Michael to get him back on track, he just clicks all the buttons he can. He obviously doesn’t really understand it, but he’s still having an impossible amount of fun with such a simple game.

"You’ve seriously never played a racing game before?" Michael asks.

"No, this is bloody amazing!" Gavin grins, all of his focus centered on the tiny screen.

They sit there in the grass for a few more minutes, Michael watching through the fence as Gavin plays the handheld game in front of him.

"Well, I gotta go inside, it’s almost dinner. You can keep it for the night if you want." he says while standing up from his spot on the ground.

"Are you serious?" As soon as Gavin looks up to stare at him in shock, the sound of a loud crash can be heard from the game. Michael smirks at that and shakes his head in amusement.

"Yeah, man. I’ll come back to the fence tomorrow and you can give it back then." he says.

Gavin nods, and Michael can tell how grateful he is.

"Are you sure though?" he asks, while getting up off of the ground himself and clutches the device to his chest as though he’s hugging it.

If he changed his mind it would obviously break the poor guys heart.

"I’m sure." he stresses and rolls his eyes, "I used to lend it to my friends all the time."

"We’re friends!?" Gavin asks loudly.

The shock and hope in Gavin’s voice surprises him for a second but it’s soon forgotten when he sees how joyful that makes him.

"Of course, idiot. I wouldn’t loan you my PSP if we weren’t friends."

For once he’s kind of grateful about the fence separating them, because Gavin would probably tackle him with a hug otherwise. Michael can’t help but chuckle at his excitement. It’s almost as though he’s never had a friend before.

But Gavin doesn’t seem to care at all, “Okay, Michael!” he grins happily, “We’re friends then!”

He’s so excited by such a simple thing, that Michael can’t help but chuckle.

"I’ve gotta go, moron." he smirks, "See you tomorrow!"

"Same place!" Gavin jokes, as though they’ve ever met anywhere different.

*

But when Michael goes to the fence the next day, Gavin isn’t there. He stands by the fence, waiting for about ten minutes until his mom comes outside and asks him what he’s doing.

"Oh, uh, nothing." he responds.

He doesn’t want to tell his mom about Gavin, because she’ll start cooing and cheering over the fact that he’s already made a friend. She’ll want to meet Gavin and invite him over to the house.

"Well come on inside, I need your help washing the dishes." she says before closing the door and going back inside.

He doesn’t think that Gavin was just some jackass that wanted a free PSP. There’s something else going on here, and hopefully he’ll have a chance to talk to him today.

Michael just can’t erase the feeling in his head that’s telling him something is wrong.

He sighs and looks at the backdoor of Gavin’s house through the fence one last time, before giving up and walking back to his own.

*****

It’s not until the next day that he sees him again.

He walked back out into the yard as the sky was getting dark. The chances of Gavin being there now were slim, but he didn’t really care. He sort of needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air. He doesn’t really like being stuck inside all day.

"Michael?"

It’s not until he hears his name called that his heart jumps a little in his chest.

"Gavin!" he cries back, "You’re here today!"

Michael runs the rest of the short way to the fence at the sound of his voice. Eager to talk to his friend once again. Yeah, maybe that sounded pretty lame for a fifteen year old, but he was so bored all the time. He missed social interactions from people other than his parents.

"Yeah, sorry about yesterday."

"What happened?"

He can see that Gavin’s wearing a black jacket. It looks old and pretty dirty. But now that he thinks about it, Gavin’s clothes usually aren’t always that clean anyways. It actually seems like he only owns one pair of jeans.

He’s not about to question it in fear of insulting him, but Gavin’s family doesn’t seem to be poor. Their house is the same size as Michael’s. Why would Gavin be wearing such old clothes?

"I’m so sorry, Michael." Gavin’s face can only be described as worried and regretful.

"Dude, are you okay?" he asks, trying to squint his eyes so that he can get a better view of Gavin’s face. But it’s getting dark out and it’s a bit harder to see. Usually it’s broad day light whenever they see each other.

He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out Michael’s PSP, then slides it through the crack of the fence. He takes it, assuming the worst.

Michael notices that there’s a small crack in the top right hand corner of the screen. That sucks, but it doesn’t really bother him. He’d expected Gavin to drop it at some point, and it was obviously his first time handling a gaming device like that.

"I broke it. I’m so sorry, Michael! I really didn’t mean too!" Gavin pleads, and Michael notices that he’s not as close to the fence as he was last time.

He has his fists clenched, and risen up so that they’re pressed against his temples. Looking down at his lap and avoiding Michael’s gaze, as though he’s going to be scolded or harmed.

"Don’t worry about it." Michael reassures him.

He’s honestly not all that angry about the game. And even if it was, his confusion and concern towards Gavin’s behavior would cancel it out.

He just continues to hang his head down in shame as though he’s done something horrible, which makes Michael desperate to prove him otherwise.

"I swear, Gavin. It’s not a big deal. It still works, see!" he turns it on and the devices lights up once again. The brightness sort of hurts his eyes considering how dark it is out now.

Gavin looks up at the light and relief spreads across his features. He must not have even tried to turn it back on in fear that he’d break it even more.

But Michael doesn’t pay attention to how happy Gavin seems. He pays attention to the boy’s face that was lit up by the PSP. Only the small crack of light makes it to his face, but it still makes the wounds more noticeable.

"Holy shit, Gavin!" Michael yells, "What the hell happened to you!?"

The bruise on his forehead still hadn’t faded yet (which is odd), but now he has other ones to match it. There’s one next to his left eye, and one on his chin. His lip is cracked and slightly swollen.

"What are you talking about?" Gavin asks, still basking in the relief of the ‘fixed’ PSP.

"I’m talking about your face! It’s like a train wreck! Did somebody beat you up!?" he’s still yelling, but the thought of some other kid hitting Gavin is making him so angry.

Gavin finally seems to catch on, “Oh!” he says casually and holds a hand up to his lip as though he’s forgotten. “Nah, I just fell down yesterday.”

"And you got all those bruises from falling down?" Michael questions.

"Yeah." Gavin smiles easily, "T’was a nasty fall."

Michael decides to push it out of his mind for now. He can ask more about it later. “What happened yesterday anyways, where were you?”

The low battery light is flashing on the PSP, and he turns it off before shoving it into his pocket. Gavin obviously played it for a long time and didn’t stop until he either thought he broke it or the battery ran out.

"I forgot that my parents didn’t have work yesterday, so I couldn’t leave the house. Sorry about that." he says, "I didn’t mean to look like I tried to steal your game."

"No worries, it’s alright." He doesn’t want Gavin to feel guilty over something that wasn’t in his control.

But why wouldn’t his parents let him come outside anyways? That’s never made much sense. It’s not like he’s a toddler that needs babysitting. Okay, well maybe he  _kind_  of is. But they let him stay home on his own whenever they’re at work!

"Do you have any siblings?" Michael asks.

Maybe he has to stay in to take care of them or something. Honestly, he’s grasping at straws trying to get more information, because it just doesn’t make any sense to him.

"Nope. Just me, mum, and dad. I’ve asked them if I could get a pet but they always say no. I want a dog like the Jefferson’s used to have." he babbles aimlessly.

Maybe his parents just give him lots of chores and that prevents him from having any free time.

"Well you’ve got me as a friend now, that’s better than a dog, right?" Michael jokes.

Gavin gasps happily, “Of course, Michael! I’ve never had a friend before! It’s so much fun! I wish I had something to give to you for the night, but I don’t.”

He smirks at that, “Not a problem. In fact, I’ll let you borrow my PSP again sometime if you want.”

"But I almost broke it this time."

"It’s fine. Honestly, I don’t even use it that much." he plans on letting it charge again over night and letting Gavin have it again tomorrow. "You’ll be here tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." he nods.

They continue to talk for an hour or two about nothing in particular. Michael tries to keep the topic away from Gavin’s parents and his clumsy nature because obviously it’s a sore subject. He’s willing to push away the bad feeling in his stomach and forget about it so that Gavin’s happy.

And judging by the smile on his face and the animated way he explains simple things to Michael with such a carefree attitude, it’s worth it.

He wants to ask Gavin if he wants to come over tomorrow and play a game on his Xbox, but figures that’s probably still a bad idea. If his parents keep him so busy in the house that he can’t even go to the backyard, then it’d probably be impossible to go over to a friends house.

When they first met he asked if Gavin wanted to come over to his house and hang out, away from the fence. But he declined and said that his parents probably wouldn’t like that very much. Michael decided to just drop it since Gavin tried to immediately change the subject afterwards.

When school starts he’ll finally be able to see Gavin clearly, not just through the gaps in their backyard fences.


	3. Chapter 3

Time seemed to fly by, but he and Gavin’s friendship grew more and more each time they spoke.

And even though he had to go to his first day of a new high school, he wasn’t nervous. Because he had Gavin and they could hang out without a fence separating them.

On his first day, he walked into the classroom and his teacher introduced him then told him to sit down in any seat he’d wanted.

It was just a coincidence that he sat next to a guy named Ray, who started talking to him immediately. It didn’t take long for them to start making jokes and laugh at each other.

They had all the same classes, and instead of paying attention during the lessons, they talked nonstop. Ray was a pretty cool guy, and it turned out he was really into video games too. Due to their shared interest and sense of humor, it didn’t take long for them to become friends.

Ray even asked him to come sit with him during lunch, and of course he wasn’t going to refuse.

Ray had a slightly darker complexion than him and black hair, and he also wore glasses. He didn’t seem to have a lot of close friends, but he knew everybody’s names and who they were. It reminded Michael of that one guy from the Scott Pilgrim comics.

Ray spent the majority of his lunch pointing out each person in the cafeteria and telling Michael what their name was. It was a nice gesture, but he didn’t think he’d remember even one of them later on.

Ray’s went to school with these same kids all his life though, so he knows all of their names and personalities, but he doesn’t actually  _like_ them. They’re all kind of stereotypical high school jerks, in his opinion.

As he continued naming off people, Michael thought over how much they were alike and how close of friends they already are. It was a lot like his friendship with Gavin. Maybe he, Ray, and Gavin could all hang out together sometime.

Then he wants to smack himself across the face for forgetting about Gavin completely. He’d just made such fast friends with Ray that he didn’t even think about finding his friend and asking him if he wanted to hang out with them too.

Gavin and Ray might already be friends, since Ray appears to know everybody in the school. But he hasn’t seen the familiar British teen anywhere all day. Wouldn’t he have noticed if he saw that messy light brown hair in the hallway between classes?

Ray continues to name off students when Michael interrupts him.

"Do you know Gavin?" he asks. He assumes that just mentioning the name to Ray would get him to point towards the direction of his annoying friend, but his eyebrows just come together in confusion as he thinks about it.

"Who’s Gavin?" he finally asks.

"He’s my next door neighbor. And he’s our age."

"What’s his last name?"

That sort of confuses Michael for a second because he’s never even thought to ask Gavin his last name. “…I’m not really sure.”

Ray shrugs and shakes his head slowly, “Well, there’s nobody named Gavin in this school. Trust me, I’d know. I know everybody.” He rolls his eyes as though he’s annoyed by this fact, and he probably is.

Michael’s only been here for half of a day and he already knows that everybody in this school, besides Ray, is a total prick.

But the news about Gavin sort of shocks him. Gavin doesn’t go to this school? Then where the hell is he? There’s no other school’s in the area, so what the hell is going on!?

Along with all of the other confusing things about Gavin, he just pushes it away and decides to worry about it later.

*

"Hey, mom!" he calls out as he walks in through the front door.

"Michael!" she cheers, as she runs into the room, "How was your first day?"

She looks so excited to hear about it, and he can’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. He sets down his book-bag on the ground next to his shoes.

"It was good. I actually made a friend named Ray." he explains simply, not wanting to go into too much details. It’s pretty lame if you’re parents know every single aspect of your teenage life.

"Oh, honey!" she smiles, and then brings him towards her for a hug, "That’s so nice!"

"Mom, stop." he rolls his eyes through his amusement, "You’ve seriously gotta stop being so clingy."

"I just can’t help it." she makes a dramatic sniffling sound, as though she’s trying not to tear up, "My baby boy is growing up."

"Oh my God…" he groans.

His mom was always so perky and upbeat, usually it was funny and amusing, but other times it reached the borders of annoying.

"Are you going to help me with dinner?" she asks, finally letting him out of her deathly bear hug.

"I will later, I’m going to go outside for a little bit." he says, and she rolls her eyes playfully.

"You love that backyard an awful lot." she points out, "What are you doing out there?"

"Basking in the sun." he grins, "Growing boys need their Vitamin D."

She snickers and ruffles his hair.

As soon as he walks through the back door in the kitchen, his smile drops and he’s ready to question Gavin to death.

He hears the excitable British boy before he can even see him through the fence. It doesn’t take long for him to walk over. He feels like he’s on a mission. A mission to get annoyed.

"Hi, Michael!" Gavin greets him as he sits down in the soft grass.

Michael doesn’t even say hi back, he just jumps straight to business.

"What school do you go to?" he asks, his face close to the fence, and even though he can only see Gavin with one eye this way, he’s glaring at him as though something is his fault.

Gavin doesn’t seem to notice how annoyed and determined he is, and just stares at him with amused confusion, as though Michael’s playing a game.

"School?" he questions softly.

Michael is in no such mood to play games.

"Yes, school, you fucking idiot!" he curses, "There’s no other school in this town besides  _Rooster Teeth High and Elementary_ , and I know you’re a total moron, but I doubt you’re still in elementary school.”

"I don’t think I’ve ever went to school." Gavin responds, and raises an eyebrow in deep thought.

"How the hell have you never went to school? You’re fifteen years old! You’ve had to go to school at  _some_  point!” he realizes that he’s yelling, and tries to calm himself down a little by taking a deep breath.

Gavin’s just so infuriating sometimes. He wishes that this fence never existed so that he could punch him straight in his stupid nose.

But it looks like somebody already did.

If Michael wasn’t so focused on this whole school situation, he’d be questioning Gavin about where he got that cut on the bridge of his nose, and the small bruise on his jaw.

Gavin just shrugs at Michael’s questions. One good thing about Gavin was that he never really took his aggression very seriously, and would always treat it like a joke.

"School is where you sit in a room with a bunch of books, right? And you learn stuff?" he looks to Michael for confirmation.

Michael nods slowly. Gavin isn’t even one hundred percent sure on what a school  _is_!? What is wrong with this kid!?

"Then I don’t think I’ve ever been to one." he states simply.

"What do you mean you don’t  _think_? Either you’ve been to one or you haven’t.”

"I just don’t really remember."

Michael stares at him in disbelief, “You don’t remember being a little kid and going to your first day of school?”

Gavin looks guilty, “To be honest, I don’t really remember much about being a child at all.”

"Seriously? Not even a little bit?"

"Nope. Maybe little bits and pieces that I don’t really understand, but isn’t that normal?"

Michael pauses for a moment, and realizes that he doesn’t feel so angry about the school thing anymore. “Yeah, I guess so.”

"Do you remember a lot about being a little boy?" Gavin asks, happy that Michael isn’t yelling at him anymore or getting upset.

"Bits and pieces." he shrugs, "Just the important stuff, I guess."

Gavin grins at that, “What kind of important stuff?”

Michael could tell him millions of stories about the world’s most boring topics, and Gavin would still sit there, listening, eager to hear more. Whenever he could get Michael to explain something to him, he’d jump at the chance.

"Ya’know, first day of school, field trips, going on vacations with my parents, first kiss. Pointless shit like that."

"First kiss?" Gavin asks, his head cocked to the side in bewilderment.

"Yeah. I think it was with this little redheaded girl named Lindsay. We were like nine years old and it was on the school playground." Michael reminisces with a smirk on his face.

"That’s so cute!" Gavin cries, "I wish I could see how cute you were when you were that little. You were probably absolutely adorable."

"Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I totally was." Michael jokes.

"That little Lindsay girl was probably so in love with your dimply little freckled face." Gavin coos with a grin, and reaches him hand through the fence to pinch his cheeks, but Michael swats his hand away.

All of his annoyance towards Gavin has washed away, and it’s been replaced with laughter and dumb jokes about his childhood.

He laughs out loud, “I’ll have to show you a picture of me as a kid one day.”

"Oh, that’d be top!" Gavin giggles, already excited at the prospect of seeing a little baby Michael.

"What about you? You were probably an adorable kid." Michael points out, and he’s not sure if this counts as flirting or not.

"I don’t know. I can’t remember what I looked like as a child."

Michael makes a face, “Really? You don’t remember what you looked like  _and_ you can’t remember if you went to school?!

Whenever you actually try to listen and understand the nonsense Gavin talks about, it’s like taking a gamble. There’s a 50/50 chance of you getting angry, or laughing out loud.

Right now, all Michael can do is laugh. He’s tired of being annoyed with Gavin, and it’s so much easier to just let it go and joke about it.

"Nope! I don’t think I’ve even seen pictures of myself as a baby. Do parents usually do that?"

"Yes." Michael grins and rolls his eyes, "Your parents are weird, man."

"Nah, they’re pretty nice." Gavin smiles absentmindedly.

It’s quiet for a few seconds until Michael remembers their earlier conversation. “Hey! You never told about  _your_  first kiss! Come on, spill.” he jokes.

"I don’t think I’ve had one."

"Seriously!? Another fucking thing you don’t remember? You have the worst memory in the world. How do you not remember your first kiss?"

"Is it that big of a deal?" Gavin questions.

"Yeah, usually."

He thinks about it for a moment, “Do my parents count? They kiss me a lot.”

Michael rolls his eyes, “No, dipshit, your parents don’t count.”

"Then maybe I’ve never had one."

"Seriously?" he asks, for what seems like the millionth time today. But honestly he’s not all that surprised. If Gavin doesn’t remember going to school, he’s not going to know if he’s had his first kiss there or not.

"Yeah. Is that bad?"

"I guess not." Michael doesn’t really know much about first kisses though. Usually it was more of a girl problem, and everybody would have their first kiss just so that they wouldn’t get bullied about not having one later.

But Michael’s certainly not a nine year old girl, and he’s not going to make fun of Gavin for not having his first kiss. It’s not really that big of a deal in his opinion. The only shame is that nobody’s gotten to kiss those cute British lips yet.

Then an idea comes to Michael’s mind.

"Do you…want… to have your first kiss?" he asks, trying to make it sound as least awkward as possible. But he still can’t look Gavin in the eye as he says it.

"Whaddya mean?" Gavin questions.

"I mean…  _we_ could kiss, if you want. And then you’d have it out of the way and over with.” Michael’s conflicted between wanting to smack himself for offering such a stupid thing, and internally pleading for Gavin to say yes.

He sort of has a little crush on the guy. It’s just hard to see somebody everyday for a month and not get attached to them! Besides, Gavin’s his cute British next door neighbor. It would be practically impossible to not to like him at all.

"Sure." Gavin murmurs shyly, and Michael looks up to see that he’s blushing, but smiling at the same time. "We’d have to do it through the fence though."

He didn’t think about that, but figures that it’s not really a problem. “That doesn’t matter.”

His main focus right now is that fact that Gavin agreed. He wants to throw his fists in the air in celebration at the fact that he said yes.

He leans closer to the gap in the fence the same time that Gavin does. And as their lips meet, Michael curses the fence once again. It’s preventing him from reaching out and holding Gavin’s face or even deepening the kiss.

They can both feel the rough texture of the painted fence on the sides of their mouths, but the only thing Michael can focus on is how soft Gavin’s lips are.

Eventually they move away from one another, and Michael smirks at the deeper blush that’s warming Gavin’s face this time. But he’s sure that his own face isn’t any less red.

He looks so bashful and shy that Michael just wants to kick this stupid fence down, hug him close, and never let go. It’s unimaginable how much trouble a fence can cause.

"I liked that." Gavin murmurs softly.

"Me too." Michael nods, trying not to smile so wide, but he ends up failing at Gavin’s next word.

"Thanks." he says quietly, unsure of what he’s supposed to do next. Michael laughs and rolls his eyes.

"You don’t say thanks when somebody kisses you, dumb ass."

"Then what are you supposed to do?"

"I don’t know… Ask for another one?" he suggests. He doesn’t actually think it’ll work, but he’s desperate to feel those lips on his again.

"Okay." Gavin grins, "Can you kiss me again, Michael?"

He doesn’t look so bashful anymore, but his cheeks still haven’t faded back to normal color yet. And Michael can’t help but admire how adorable he looks, so innocent, having his first kiss with his bad tempered next door neighbor through a gap in his fence.

"Of course."


	4. Chapter 4

"Michael!" his mother calls out as she knocks softly on his door.

He’s sitting in his room, browsing the internet on his computer. Honestly he’s pretty bored, so his mother coming up to pester him isn’t really that annoying at the moment.

"What?"

She opens the door and peeks her head in, “The neighbors have just came over. Come down and say hi!”

"Which neighbors? You mean those ones?" he points his thumb, indicating the house to the right of them. Where Gavin lives.

He gets out of his chair and walks towards her and the door, not wanting to get his hopes up. After all, it could just be the boring elderly couple that live to the left of them.

"Yes, so come on and introduce yourself, but then go back upstairs to your room. Don’t need you listening in on  _grown-up talk_.” she teases, and ruffles his hair playfully. Usually he’d roll his eyes at her babying him, but he’s too excited.

Gavin and his parents live in the house to the right of them! Gavin and his parent’s are here! Michael almost wants to jump around with joy at the thought of Gavin being over at his house.

It’s been about two weeks since the whole kiss thing, and Michael was worried that it would make their friendship awkward, but luckily it was just the same as ever.

Every once in a while Gavin would get shy and ask for a kiss before they both left the fence to back to their houses, and it was the only good part about having to say goodbye for the night.

As he walks downstairs and towards the kitchen with his mother, he thinks over all of the things he and Gavin can do now. He’s trying his hardest not to grin with excitement over that fact.

They can play Xbox, or watch TV, or hang out in Michael’s room, or do dumb shit on the computer! There are so many things they haven’t gotten to do because of Gavin’s stupid “Stay inside the house” rule.

There’s only so much you can talk about through the fence, and even though they somehow haven’t run out of conversation yet, Michael still wants to interact with Gavin in more of a face to face way.

He also wouldn’t mind being able to kiss him without the fence holding him back.

And maybe if his parents see how much fun he has over here, and how safe it is, then they’ll let Gavin come over all the time.

He makes a mental note not to treat Gavin like he usually does by calling him offensive names or playfully hitting him while his parents are around. It might give them the wrong impression and make them think that he actually wants to hurt their son.

They sound like they’re overprotective like that.

Michael sees the two strangers as soon as he and his mother step foot into the kitchen. They’re sitting at the table with his father, drinking coffee and talking with him normally.

"Christie, David!" his mom calls out to them, and when the two look over they see Michael and smile warmly at him.

These must be Gavin’s parents. Christie has short blonde hair that reaches her shoulders. It’s obvious that it’s dyed because he can see a hint of dark roots, indicating that she naturally has darker hair. Other than that she doesn’t have any other noticeable features. David has black hair but it’s greying, and he has a thick mustache. He’s a little bigger, and a little shorter than her.

They both just look like a normal middle aged couple, but neither of them look like Gavin.

And Gavin’s not sitting there with them. Did his parents not tell them they were going over to this house? Wouldn’t he want to come over and see him?

Christie stands up from her seat and holds out a hand too him, “Hello, you must be Michael.” she smiles, and it reminds him of his own mothers, “I’m Christie and this is my husband David.”

He shakes her hand politely, and begins to contemplate asking them about where Gavin is. Should he be worried about his whereabouts? Maybe he just doesn’t really like Michael as much as he thought.

"Uh, nice to meet you." he says.

"What a nice, polite, young boy you’ve got, Susan." Christie says to his mom.

He just smiles at her politely. They seem nice. They don’t look like overbearing obsessive parents that would keep their child inside at all hours of the day.

"Hello there, Michael." David shakes his hand too, and his grip is a little tighter than he’d expected. He winces a little internally.

David’s voice is gruff, and every so often he coughs as though he smokes a lot. “Your son’s got a strong grip.” he states to his father warmly, as though Michael isn’t standing right there.

Michael thinks that’s stupid because he isn’t squeezing his hand hard at all compared to David. But he doesn’t really care about that right now. He just wants to know where Gavin is.

"So, do you two have any children?" his mom asks them.

Sometimes it’s like she can read minds. She doesn’t even know that he’s friends with Gavin, yet she asked a question that would get an answer for him. It’s time like this that’s he’s really thankful for his mom, because she can ask the questions that he can’t, and it wouldn’t end up sounding weird.

"No." Christie says, and smiles as though she’s saddened by that fact. Michael looks up at her immediately with wide, shocked eyes. But nobody seems to notice. "We always wanted to, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be."

They continue talking but Michael doesn’t hear any of it. The only thing going through his mind now is where Gavin is and why his own parents have denied having a son.

"You can go back upstairs, Michael." his mother says, and pats him on the shoulder.

He hardly hears it, and when he turns around and leaves the room, he doesn’t even pay attention to his surroundings. Doing it as though in a befuddled trance. He climbs up the stairs and on the entire journey to his room he just thinks about Gavin.

He can’t tell them that he knows the truth, that he’s been talking to their son for the past month through the fence. Obviously that’s something that Gavin’s not allowed to do, so he might get him in trouble.

Honestly though, what’s the worst they could do? Ground him?

But Michael’s not willing to take that chance.

He’s not crazy. He’s been talking to Gavin nearly everyday now. He and Gavin are best friends. But why the hell isn’t he in school? Why do his parents deny having any kids?

He’s one hundred percent sure that he’s not mistaken. The house to the right of them is the house that Gavin lives in, and it’s also the house that the people visiting right now live in.

But his parents looked nothing like Gavin. They didn’t even have an accent like him either.

While squeezing his eyes shut he falls back onto his bed. When did he get into his room? He doesn’t know, and he doesn’t care. All he knows is that he really wants to talk to Gavin and get to the bottom of this.

*

It’s only his second week of school, and he knows he shouldn’t be ignoring all of his classwork, the teachers notes, and the other students, but he just can’t help it.

He’s annoyed that he didn’t get to talk to Gavin afterwards, and that he’s no further in trying to figure out this odd web of confusion, even though he thought about it all last night.

Ray talks to him, and he tries to pay attention. He doesn’t want Ray to think that he’s uninterested, it’s just that he’s too busy trying to figure out if he’s got his information wrong. Maybe his mom made a mistake and said the wrong house.

They’re sitting in the computer lab during English class, and they’re supposed to be doing some brief research on Shakespeare. The teacher is pretty strict, and has already assigned a paper on famous playwrights that she expects to be on her desk by next week.

But she’s also kind of slack since she’s left the class alone while she went to go get a coffee from the teachers lounge. She left about twenty minutes ago, and there’s no signs of her returning anytime soon. Most of the teens are taking advantage of it by playing online games instead. Ray included.

Luckily, it was last period, and the school day was almost over. So he’d be able to talk to Gavin soon and find out what’s going on. He knows he’ll feel so relieved when he finds out it’s all just some dumb misunderstanding.

But he’s got that weird feeling in his stomach again that something is wrong.

"Hey, dude?" Ray asks, after pausing his game.

Michael is snapped out of his thoughts on Gavin and looks up at his friend, who’s waving a hand in front of his face, “What?”

Ray smirks, and rolls his eyes, “You’ve been on the homepage of Google for about ten minutes now. You sure you’re okay?”

Michael looks at his computer screen to see the simple search engine staring back at him. He doesn’t want Ray to worry, or think that he’s insane, but maybe telling him about it will help.

"I think so." he responds back, "I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately."

"Like what? How stressful it is to move to such a boring school?" he mutters sarcastically under his breath.

Michael chuckles a little at that, “Not really. Do you remember the first day of school when I asked you if you knew a kid named Gavin?”

Ray’s eyes widen, as though he’s just remembered something important. “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Something about that name just sounds so familiar to me.”

"Really?"

If Gavin’s never gone to this school, then why would that name sound familiar at all?

"Yeah, it’s like, right on the tip of my tongue, ya’know? Maybe I know him from somewhere." he shrugs, and then smirks "Why are you thinking about him so much? Do you  _like_ him?”

Michael shoves him playfully, but doesn’t deny it, “Shut up.”

They act like they’ve been friends for years.

Ray chuckles knowingly, “So tell me more about this mysterious Gavin since he’s on your mind so much.”

There’s a hint of smug pride in his voice, and Michael just rolls his eyes at it. Maybe he  _does_ sort of think Gavin is cute and funny. Maybe he  _does_ sort of like him a little bit.

He doesn’t think it’s a good idea to crush on a guy who he’s only ever talked to through a fence. But they have kissed a few times, so maybe there’s no sense in denying it to himself anymore.

"There’s not much to say. He’s a total moron," he smiles, thinking about it, "He doesn’t know what a gaming console is. I showed him my PSP, and he’s never seen one before in his life."

"Really?" Ray arches an eyebrow in confusion, "That’s really…weird. Didn’t you say he was our age?"

"Yeah. I loaned it to him for a night, and it was like he’s never even heard of video games or played them before."

"We need to fix this kid. I’m very concerned for his well being." Ray snickers jokingly.

His love for video games knows no bounds, and that’s part of the reason why he doesn’t have many friends. Michael’s learned that he’s not too big on going out, and would much rather just stay home and play video games all day.

He loosely explains to his friend how they met, and that he’s never seen him anywhere else. Ray multitasks by both playing his computer game, and listening to the story at the same time.

"So, you’ve only ever talked to this guy through a fence in your backyard?"

"Yup."

"And you’ve never seen him talk to anybody besides you? Not even his own parents?"

"No, dude! That’s the thing, his own parents seriously act like he doesn’t exist to other people. My mom asked if they had any kids, and they said  _no_. They won’t let him go outside, so the only time I get to talk to him is if he sneaks out when they go to work.”

"This is some paranormal shit. It sounds like something out of a cheesy horror movie. Remind me to never go over to your house. The Puerto Rican always dies first in those kinds of movies."

"Shut up, he’s not a damn ghost. He’s a real person. A really annoying person at that." he mutters to himself.

"An annoying person that you  _like_.”

"Oh please. As I’d ever be attracted to that British moron."

It’s an obvious lie, but that’s not what Ray focuses on. He pauses his game and looks deep in thought for a moment, as though Michael’s just said something important.

"Wait…" he says slowly, "You said he’s British?"

"Yeah. He’s got a pretty thick accent, so I assume he is." he looks at Ray in confusion, "Why? What’s up?"

But Ray doesn’t respond, he just sits there. His jaw is slacked, as though he’s just been told some kind of shocking information. He opens his mouth to start talking, but no words come out, and he just ends up closing it again. Michael’s kind of concerned for a moment.

“ _He_  was British.” Ray says quietly to himself as he nods, and his face looks almost horrified, “They told us that he was British… when it happened.”

"Who? When what happened?" Michael asks, but he’s not sure exactly what he’s asking, or what’s even going on. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Ray pays no attention to him and quickly closes out of his game without saving it. That fact alone makes Michael raise an eyebrow. Something must be going down. Ray takes video games very seriously.

He’s usually always so carefree, making dumb jokes about video games, and saying “Yolo” ironically to make fun of the other kids they go to school with. Michael’s never seen him so serious and focused.

"I remember why that name sounds so familiar now." he murmurs, almost as though he’s still talking to himself.

He goes to Google and types “Gavin Free Austin Texas” into the search engine, and Micheal’s not even able to read the results before Ray clicks the first one.

He’s not even left time to wonder why he added the word “Free”, or why he’s even Googling Gavin and their area in the first place.

As soon as the webpage loads, Michael just stares at the screen in shock.

A picture of a young boy takes up half of the screen, and the rest is filled with his information. Stating things like his eye and hair color, his birth date, and shit like that.

He scans through it quickly, and notes that everything matches up to the Gavin’s physical appearance. He’s never thought to ask what his full name is, but apparently it’s “Gavin David Free.”

But Michael doesn’t care much about that stuff, and is now only able to look at the picture.

It’s Gavin.

It’s a little boy version of Gavin.

He’d be able to recognize that face anywhere, especially considering it’s the only person he’s had to talk to besides his own parents during the majority of his summer.

He’s watched Gavin’s goofy facial expressions and wide expressive eyes through those cracks in the fence for hours upon hours some days. Gavin said that he’s never seen a picture of himself as a child before. So why is there one online?

"That’s him!" Michael finally says, and then looks over to Ray. "That’s Gavin. How’d you know his last name?"

Ray doesn’t say anything for the longest while, and just stares back and forth between the image of Gavin, and Michael’s face.

He waits impatiently for Ray to explain himself. Why would a picture of Gavin as a young kid randomly be on the internet along with all of his information? Isn’t that a little dangerous? Maybe his parents were right to keep him locked inside all the time.

"Michael…" he says slowly, "This is a missing children’s website."

His eyes widen, and the only thing he can managed to say out loud is, “What!?”

"Gavin Free went missing about six years ago."


	5. Chapter 5

The school bell rings, which indicates that the day is over, and everybody else stands up to leave.

But Michael is in shock.

He can’t think properly, and every time he tries to process Ray’s words, his own mind fights to block them out.

Ray just sits beside him quietly, not willing to move either.

"Are you okay?" he asks softly. He’s not sure how Michael is reacting to this, and to be honest he’s having a hard time understanding it too.

"No…" Michael begins to shake his head, completely ignoring Ray’s question, "No, that can’t be. Gavin’s fine. He and his parents live in the house next to mine. He’s not  _missing._ ”

Ray doesn’t really want to be the one to explain it, because the whole “Gavin Free” story still kind of freaks him out a little. Ever since he was a kid and it first happened, he tried not to think about it very much. Child abduction is a scary thing, especially when you’re just a child yourself.

"Are you  _sure_ they’re actually his parents?” he asks.

His parents don’t look or sound anything like him. They’ve denied having a kid in the first place. They keep him locked in the house all hours of the day. Was that so nobody would ask to meet him? Do they keep inside so that nobody will be able to see and recognize him?

But they seemed like such nice people. He remembers shaking his mothers hand politely, and seeing that warm smile on her face. His parents  _looked_ like they were parents. Not kidnappers.

Michael’s in some sort of denial. Everything he’s been confused about for the past month regarding Gavin has suddenly come together. The pieces fit too well for this to be anything but right.

It’s like everything makes sense now. Like when you’re reading a mystery novel and all of the foreshadowing has come together, and you want to smack yourself for not realizing that the maid was the murderer all along.

He knew something weird was happening, but he didn’t think it would be this. It _can’t_  be this.

Ray seems concerned. He looks back and forth between Michael and the picture of Gavin that’s still up on the dimly lit computer screen. Whether his concern is for Michael or Gavin, he doesn’t even know.

"But…Gavin’s never said anything about it. He’s never asked me for help or…" he’s at a complete loss for words. Everything’s jumping around in his brain so much, and it’s hard to turn all of those thoughts into functional sentences.

"Stockholm syndrome, maybe?" Ray murmurs.

Michael is familiar with the term. But he can’t accept any of this as the truth.

"But his parents are so nice." he blurts out.

"Maybe they just  _seem_ nice.” Michael starts to take deep breaths, and Ray is quick to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Dude, you need to calm down. Come on, let’s walk home. I’ll tell you everything I know about it on the way.”

*

Michael’s not sure how he’s able to walk so normally when his head is just a huge jumble of confusion and shock.

"I was around nine when it happened." Ray starts off, and Michael looks over at him as they walk along the sidewalk.

"It was in this town. It was just a normal day, and when I came home from school I remember my parents hugging me really tight. And then they told me that a boy from my school named Gavin was taken."

Michael nods along, trying to listen to every detail of the story.

"I didn’t really know what that meant at the time. But apparently there were eye witnesses that say Gavin was playing out in his front yard, and a car stopped in front of him. Somebody got out and grabbed him, and before anybody could do anything about it they drove off.

"The whole town became a search party. Everybody was looking through the woods and shit with flashlights. And Gavin’s parents were a mess. I remember seeing them on the news. It was heartbreaking, Michael. I don’t even like to think about it now, and that was  _six years ago_.”

"What did his parents look like?" Michael asks. He’s used to picturing Gavin’s parents as being Christie and David, the two people that came over to his house.

"I don’t remember much about them. But I know they had a bunch of tattoos and piercings. They looked like one of those cool biker couples, ya’know?" Ray smirks, "Not the couple you’d expect to adopt a little boy from England."

"Gavin was adopted?"

"Yeah, I think when he was just a toddler. But that was common knowledge. He did have a British accent after all. I don’t remember what his parents names were though."

"Well what happened after that? They never found him so they just gave up?"

"There was nothing anybody could do. They looked everywhere for him but it was like he just disappeared."

It’s so weird to think that the guy he’s been talking to through a fence for the past month, and his best friend, is a victim. A victim to a kidnapping that took place six years ago.

"If the guy you’re talking to is actually Gavin Free…Then it’s a miracle, Michael. Because everybody thinks he’s dead."

He wishes that this wasn’t the reality of the situation, but everything just makes so much damn sense now.

*

As soon as Michael got home, he threw his book bag to the ground, ran out through the house, and out the back door as fast as he could.

The irrational part of his brain is telling him that Gavin is in trouble. He feels panicky and needs to see that his best friend is safe and okay. If he could think clearly he would realize that the chances of him being in danger are pretty low.

As far as he knows, his ‘parents’ haven’t tried to torture or murder him yet, and it’s been six years. The chances of it happened directly after Michael finds out are very slim. Maybe he just watches too many TV shows.

And he feels an undeniable rush of relief when he hears the familiar voice of Gavin yell out, “Hi, Michael!”

He practically runs over to the fence, and collapses onto the grass in exhaustion. Gavin’s eyes widen at the sight, and he leans up against the fence closer to get a better look at him.

"Are you okay, Michael?!" he asks, and when Michael looks up he can see Gavin’s worried eyes staring at him through the gap.

"I’m fine." he’s still panting, "Gavin, I need you to be completely honest with me, okay?"

He arches an eyebrow at the odd request, but hesitantly nods his head anyways.

Michael just sits there for a while as he regains his breath, trying to think of a way to put it into words.

"Gavin… When was the last time you left your house?" he asks, deciding that maybe it’ll be a good idea to confirm this whole ordeal before he begins telling him.

Gavin just grins, “I’m outside right now, you silly doughnut. What’s all this about?”

"I mean, other than your backyard."

That makes the smile fade a little, and Gavin looks confused for a moment, “I don’t think I ever have.”

"Never?"

"Not that I can remember." he thinks about it for a few moments, and Michael doesn’t interrupt him because he’s so horrified that this is actually happening. "Is that weird?"

"Yes." he responds immediately.

Gavin gives a little shrug, “Oh. My parents just don’t want me to go outside, is all.”

"Gavin, I don’t think your parents…are who they say they are." he says slowly.

He cocks his head in confusion, “What do you mean?”

He’s not exactly sure how he’s going to tell him about it yet, and he doesn’t want Gavin to freak out about it either. So he decides to take a different route. “What’s your last name?”

"O’Reily." he smiles a little, thinking that they’re just asking dumb questions like they usually do, "What’s  _your_  last name?”

"Gavin." he realizes that he’s been repeating his name, but it’s just so hard to keep him focused on one topic. "That doesn’t matter right now, okay?"

Then Gavin begins to worry, “Michael, are you sure you’re alright? I’m getting worried.”

Michael doesn’t have time right now to reassure him that he’s okay, because he’s not so sure of that himself yet. “You need to listen to me, okay? This is serious.”

Gavin doesn’t say anything, and just looks at him through the fence with this baffled look on his face.

It’s such an odd and tense moment that Michael can hardly find the words to describe his own emotions.

"Your name isn’t Gavin O’Reily."

Gavin lets out a soft chuckle, as though he’s amused by Michael’s jokes, “Of course it is.”

Michael reaches his through the fence, and takes the confused boys hand in his. He’s not sure why he’s doing it, but he just needs some sort of reassurance that Gavin is actually there in front of him.

"Your name is  _Gavin Free_.” he stresses out the name as much as he can, but he can’t really explain what emotion dances across the boys face when he hears the name.

It’s quiet for a long time, until he finally hears the word, “Free…” murmured quietly.

"Six years ago a little boy named Gavin Free was kidnapped from his front yard." Michael explains quietly, "Everybody searched for him but they could never find him."

Gavin still doesn’t speak for the longest while. He just sits there staring into Michael’s eyes.

And then he starts laughing. Michael holds his hand tighter, concerned for the boy’s mental health at the moment. He’s trying to deny it like he did earlier.

Michael just closes his eyes and waits for the laughter to subside. Gavin needs to hear this, and he needs to understand what’s going on. Yeah, it might sound crazy and unrealistic to him, but Michael is desperate for him to listen at this point.

He needs to make sure that Gavin is safe, and away from these people. He doesn’t care how long it takes.

"That’s insane, Michael!" Gavin states, still grinning at the idea, "That doesn’t even make any sense. I’ve lived here with my parents my whole life! I don’t even  _go_  in my front yard, how could somebody have kidnapped me from there?”

"No, I’m trying to tell you that those people you live with… aren’t your parents." It might be the most serious he’s ever talked to Gavin. He’s so used to their conversations being funny and stupid. It’s so weird to be holding his hand and trying to convey a topic like this to him.

"Why else would your parents never let you go outside? It’s because they don’t want anybody to recognize you. Why else wouldn’t your parents have baby photos of you? It’s because you’re not theirs."

Gavin’s smile fades at that, and he doesn’t laugh anymore.

"They came over to my house last night." Michael says clearly. He stares directly into Gavin’s eyes, begging for the boy to believe him. Judging by the look on his face, he’s starting to understand, and fit the pieces together too. "My parents asked if they had any kids of their own, and they said no."

"They did?" Gavin whispers.

"Yeah. And do you want to know why? Because they don’t want anybody to know that you are in that house. Because you don’t belong to them. You’re _Gavin Free_ , the boy that everybody thinks is dead.”

Gavin’s eyes widen at that, and his grip on Michael’s hand tightens.

"B-But…That can’t be!" he says, desperate to prove it wrong. Michael wishes that he wasn’t right, he wishes that this wasn’t happening. "My parents are good people. They love me!"

He has a hard time believing that.

"What happened that night I loaned you my game? Why were you covered in bruises the day after?" he thinks he already knows the answer, but he needs to hear him say it out loud.

"I… I can’t tell you."

"Please, Gavin. You can tell me  _anything_. I want to help you.” Michael says slowly. He doesn’t want to scare him, he needs to keep him here and get as much information out of him as he can before calling the police. He needs to make sure Gavin is okay. “You’re not going to get in trouble, okay? I promise.”

He still looks hesitant and unsure, and his eyes won’t meet Michael’s anymore. Instead he stares down at the grass, internally struggling with himself.

"Do your parents ever hurt you?" he asks, so quiet that he’s not even sure that Gavin’s even heard him. But when he squeezes his eyes closed, Michael knows that it’s reached his ears.

He wishes he could make it all better. But he can’t. He’s on the other side of this goddamn fence, and he’s not able to comfort Gavin with anything other than his words and holding his hand.

Michael’s stomach drops as soon as Gavin starts nodding his head a little. Why didn’t he notice it sooner? Why didn’t he force Gavin to tell him when he first noticed the bruises? Is he really so stupid that he believed those lies he was told?

"Stay right here, okay? I’m going to be back in a minute." he states, and doesn’t move until he sees Gavin nod once again.

He lets go off his hand and jumps up from his spot, running as fast as he can towards his house. He hates leaving Gavin there, on the other side of that fence, unable to protect himself from those people.

They’re people that Gavin’s trusted for the past six years. No matter how often they’ve hurt him, lied to him, or refused to let him go outside, he loved them because he thought they were his parents. Michael can’t imagine what’s going through his head right now, but all he can do is hope that this is all going to end well.

Sliding the back door open seems to take longer than it usually does, and he hates that. It makes him want to kick the glass out of rage, but he knows he can’t let his anger get in the way right now. He needs to be calm and stable for Gavin’s sake.

But he’s just so damn frustrated. He’s been bottling it all up this entire time because he’s been in shock. It’s finally sunk it, though. Gavin’s lost six years of his life because two scumbags decided that they needed a twenty four hour punching bag.

Gavin was a nine year old little boy! He wants nothing more than to punch those two assholes in the face as hard as he can, but he knows it’s not going to solve anything. He’s just a fifteen year old kid, and if he wants to protect Gavin, he’s going to need more help.

"Mom!" he screams desperately as soon as he gets into the house.

"What!?" she asks quickly, her motherly instincts kick in and she runs into the kitchen as fast as she can."Are you hurt!?"

"Call 911." he states, trying not to sound so panicked, but it’s basically impossible. It’s all starting to catch up on him, and he’s finding it harder to breath.

He doesn’t have to put on a brave face for Gavin right now, and he’s relieved about that because he feels like he wants to cry.

"What!?" she yells, and begins to look him over to make sure he’s actually okay. She knows when her son is being serious, and right now he definitely is. "What’s going on, Michael?!"

"Call 911," he repeats, "And tell them that Gavin Free is in the house to the right of us. Tell them that he’s safe, but they have to get there as fast as they can."

"The house to the right? But that’s where the O’Reily’s live!" she asks, while fumbling around for the phone on the counter. They’re still in the process of getting everything situated in their new house, so everything’s still kind of unorganized.

He’s relieved that his mom is so trusting of him. She doesn’t even know what’s going on, but she’s willing to do as he says before even hearing the full story. He definitely doesn’t have time to tell it all to her right now, but he manages to get out the basics.

"Yeah, and they kidnapped Gavin Free six years ago! Now call them!" he yells. She nods quickly and while she begins pressing the buttons, he internally thanks his mother for being so amazing.

As he runs back out the door, he faintly hears his mother speaking to the 911 operator, but he pays no attention to what she’s saying. His mind is only on Gavin.

"Gavin!" Michael yells as he runs to the spot he left him.

He doesn’t get a response back, but when he sees Gavin still sitting there, he lets out a breath of relief. He reaches through the fence again and takes Gavin’s hand in his.

"Everything’s going to be okay now, Gav." he says, but the boy seems unresponsive. "Gavin? Are you okay?"

He shakes his head no softly, while looking down at his lap.

"I’ve got to go, Michael." he finally whispers, "My parents are going to be home soon."

As soon as he moves to get up, Michael’s grip on his hand tightens and refuses to let him go. “No, you aren’t going back in there.”

Gavin finally looks up at him in surprise, “B-But, Michael, I’ll get in trouble if they see me outside. They’ll…” he trails off.

"I’m not letting you out of my sight."

"But they’re going to see that I’m not inside the house, they’ll come out here, and they’ll see that I’m outside. You won’t be able to stop them, Michael. I’ve got to get inside right  _now_!” his voice is pleading and desperate, and Michael can’t give in. Gavin’s pulling on his hand, trying to get out of his grasp.

"No, Gavin!" he argues, but he knows he’s right.

If his parents came through the back door right now, then Michael wouldn’t be able to protect him at all. The police should be on their way by now, but he doesn’t want to risk it.

His eyes scan his yard quickly, looking for anything that can help them. “Goddammit.” he mutters under his breath. All of their outdoor equipment is still packed away. You’d think after a month they would have everything unpacked by now.

"What are you looking for?" Gavin asks.

"Something to break this shitty fence down with."

As his eyes search his backyard, he doesn’t realize that his grip on Gavin’s hand has loosened. He feels the hand he was holding, slip away when he looks back, Gavin’s moved away from the fence completely.

"Gavin! Get back here! Don’t you fucking dare go in that house!" he yells, too frustrated to let himself worry about scaring Gavin or hurting his feelings right now.

This entire time he’s been trying to calm him or reassure him, but if Gavin goes into the house he’s not going to be able to stop himself from having a violent outburst out of pure rage. He’s just too involved with Gavin to let that happen.

"I’m so scared, Michael." Gavin cries, still sitting in the grass, but scooching himself backwards and away from the fence, "I don’t know what’s going on."

Michael can briefly hear the sound of police sirens, and his mother coming into the backyard, still talking on the phone to the 911 operator. But he doesn’t care.

He reaches through the fence as far as his arm can fit, and tries to reach Gavin. To hold him, or comfort him,  _anything_.

Gavin’s eyes are squeezed shut, his fingers are curled into his palms, and he has his hands each pressed against his temples. Just like he had that day he thought Michael was going to get mad at him for breaking his PSP.

A defense mechanism.

Michael can’t help but think of how many times he’s probably done that in an effort to protect himself when those he trusted and loved would hurt him. Seeing Gavin curled up into a ball right now, silent sobs tearing through his body. Michael hates it.

The sound of the sirens get louder and closer, his mother is still yelling, but all he can see his Gavin.

He wants nothing more than to hold him and say that everything’s going to be okay.

Michael doesn’t even pay attention to the back door bursting open, and the police men who run out with their guns out, looking for any viable threats. He only snaps out of it when they run over to Gavin, who still hasn’t moved. They pick him up as though he’s a toddler, and as soon as he sees that his boy was taken, Michael yells, screams, and throws a fit.

It all happens so fast that he can’t keep up.

Gavin is taken back into the house by the police men, and Michael is no longer thinking rationally. A police officer is crouched down at the fence to talk to him, and another is talking to his mom too, but he doesn’t listen. He just screams Gavin’s name over and over again. He can feel tears going down his cheeks, but he doesn’t care enough to wipe them away.

He takes his arm out of the fence, where it was reached out for Gavin, and leaves behind his mother and the officers.

They yell after him, but he doesn’t hear it.

It all happens so fast, but so slow at the same time.

Without even thinking, he runs through his house and out of the front door. His best friend is the only thing on his mind. When he opens the door to see multiple police cars gathered around the front of Gavin’s house, his eyes only scan for one person.

"Gavin!" he yells again.

They all turn to look at him, but the only person he sees is Gavin, who’s head popped up.

He looks so relieved to see Michael. He’s in a sea of strangers, and the only people he’s ever talked to or seen within the last six years is his own ‘parents’ and Michael. He’s terrified, and nervous.

The only thing going through Gavin’s mind before he sees Michael is that his parents are going to be home soon, and they’re going to be mad at him. He doesn’t want them to hurt him today.

There’s a blanket over his shoulder, and Michael recognizes that it’s one they use for when people go into shock.

A police officer is holding Gavin’s shoulder, keeping him in place, but he can’t stop the young boy from running to his best friend when he sees him.

There’s tears streaming down both of their faces.

Being separated from Gavin in those short few seconds was terrifying, and even though he knows he should trust the police during situations like this, it was just impossible.

It doesn’t take long for them to reach one another, and without even hesitating their arms are wrapped around the other in the tightest hug imaginable.

He just wants Gavin to be as close to him as possible, he wants him to be safe, and out of danger.

He relishes in the feeling of hugging Gavin. No fence separating them or keeping them apart. They’re actually able to hold each other, and it feels so good. Tears of relief are still streaming down Michael’s face, and he can feel the wetness of Gavin’s own tears on his neck, where his face is currently nestled tightly.

"Shhh," he murmurs, "I’ve got you. It’s okay. You’re okay now."

While continuing to whisper reassuring words, Gavin just sobs and his body shakes uncontrollably.

Michael presses a soft kiss into the boy’s messy hair.


	6. Chapter 6

A few hours later, Michael and his parents were in the police station with Gavin.

He refused to go anywhere without Michael, and once they heard the full story, they didn’t really blame him.

Michael sat by his side the entire time, holding his hand for support.

They stood next to each other as Michael’s parents talked to the police officers. He’s so thankful that they’re here with them, because they’re acting very protective of both him  _and_ Gavin.

About an hour ago an officer came up and started asking Gavin questions. And even when Gavin shyed away and hid his face behind Michael’s shoulder, the man still wouldn’t leave him alone. His parents came over and told him to back off.

He was still uncomfortable around people he didn’t know, and he kept feeling as though he’d be back home later. His parents were going to find out about this and they’d be mad at him. He was scared.

But having Michael by his side comforted him. He also liked Michael’s parents too. They were nice. He hoped that they liked him back.

In order to calm him down, Michael started to ask simple and pointless questions. Ones he’s already asked and knows the answer too, but Gavin still answered them regardless.

He was still so happy to have his best friend so close to him, no fence keeping them away. So he continued to ask about his favorite color, animal, etc. It would keep the poor boy’s mind off things.

There was so much noise. People talking and yelling and asking questions. And every once in a while Gavin would let go to put his hands up to his temples to block it all out. Whenever he did this, Michael would put a comforting arm around his shoulder and hold him close.

"Hello, boys." a soft voice snaps him out of it.

Michael looks up to see a beautiful blonde woman looking at them. She has a small briefcase in her hands, and she’s wearing a professional looking suit. She doesn’t look like the other policemen that came up to talk to him. She gives them a warm smile, and Gavin visibly relaxes.

"Hi." he murmurs quietly.

"My name’s Barbara."

Michael notices how hesitant and shy his friend is, so he cuts in, “I’m Michael, and this is Gavin.”

"I know who you two are." she grins, "You’re both very brave."

"We are?" Gavin asks.

"Yeah." she looks around for a moment, "It’s kind of loud out here, isn’t it? If you want I can take you to a quiet room."

"That would be nice."

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions while we’re in there?"

He thinks it over for a moment, but finally says, “Yeah. Can he come too?”

"If he wants to."

"Michael?" he looks over to his friend.

"I’m going where ever you go."

*

"I’m scared, Michael." Gavin murmurs. The room is so silent, and neither of them want to break it.

It’s like one of those cliche rooms you’d see on movies or television shows. There’s just sitting in front of a table, that has one other chair opposite to them.

"Don’t be."

Soon the door opens, and they both look over to see Barbara entering the room.

"Hello." Gavin greets her quietly.

She smiles at him in response, and puts her small briefcase on the table.

That was something weird Gavin did. Whenever he’s met somebody new, no matter what the circumstance, he would say hello to them. Sure, you could chalk it up as him just being polite, but it was more than that.

Gavin went so many years without meeting new people, only the interaction of his kidnappers and himself to keep his company. He’s met and seen so many new people today, and he’s desperate for them to like him. He doesn’t want them to shun him and leave him by himself anymore. He’s been alone for so long.

He doesn’t know what he’d do if he didn’t have Michael by his side.

"Hi, sweetie." she says softly, as she takes out numerous papers and a tape recorder from her suitcase. It’s not long until she closes it again and smiles at them both.

"I like this room." Gavin comments lightly, "It’s nice and quiet. It was hard hearing so many people yelling and asking questions out there."

Michael internally agrees with him. He doesn’t blame the police for wanting to know, but that doesn’t mean they have to hassle and attack the poor kid. This room is so nice and silent compared to all of that noise.

"Yeah, we usually call it the Quiet Room" she says.

"I like that."

Michael tries not to talk much, mainly because he knows that it’s good for Gavin to get used to interacting with other people. He’s doing pretty well so far.

"Is it alright with you two if I record our conversation?"

Michael says yes, and Gavin looks confused for a moment, but then nods slightly.

"Can you tell me your full name, Gavin?" she asks, simply.

He hesitates for a moment, “Gavin… F-Free?”

"You say it like it’s a question."

"Yeah. I’m not really used to it yet. I don’t want to say the wrong name." he says quietly.

"You’re not going to get in trouble, Gavin." she reassures him softly, "Nobody here is going to get mad at you. You can answer these questions however  _you_ like. If you don’t want to answer one just say so.”

"Okay." he almost whispers the word.

Michael thinks that maybe she’s some kind of specialist for talking to children. She’s really comforting and she knows all the right words to say that make Gavin feel better.

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"When is your birthday?"

"I don’t know."

Her face isn’t one of pity, more like concern. Michael doesn’t blame her, he’s concerned too.

"What are your parents names? The ones you’ve been living with?"

"I don’t know."

"Their names are David and Christie O’Reily. Does that sound familiar to you at all?"

He thinks about it for a moment, but finally shakes his head no. They’ve never told him their first names. He’s only ever called them mum and dad. She continues on with the questions.

"How do you know Michael?"

"We’re best friends."

"How did you two meet?"

"Through the fence. I’m not allowed to go outside, so whenever my parents aren’t home I sneak out to get some fresh air. I like the outside." he rambles, and Michael is relieved because that means he’s getting comfortable and he’s not so scared anymore.

"Besides Michael, David, and Christie, have you seen anybody else within the last six years?"

"I don’t think so."

"Were David and Christie nice to you?"

"Yeah, usually."

"Not always?"

"No."

"I’m going to ask you some questions regarding how they treated you, okay?" she asks, "I’m only asking now so that we have something to go by. You can give me details if you want, or you can even just give me a yes or no, okay?"

Michael likes that she adds the ‘okay?’ to the end. It helps Gavin feels more in control of the conversation, and not like he’s being dragged along. He nods his head slowly.

"Have they ever gotten mad at you for doing something wrong?"

"Yes."

"Have they ever yelled at you?"

"Yes."

"Have they ever physically or sexually abused you?"

"Yes."

Michael’s grip on Gavin’s hand tightens slightly at that. He can’t believe he was so blind to all of this. Whenever they’d part ways and say goodbye, then go into their respective houses, who knows what kind of hell Gavin was going back to.

She finally asks the one question that Michael’s been worried about for a long time, “Are you okay?”

Gavin doesn’t answer for a while, and just looks down at his lap. He eventually shakes his head no, and squeezes his eyes shut.

"What’s going through your head right now, sweetie?" she asks, softly.

"I…I-I-" he stutters.

"Take your time." she murmurs.

"I-I’m kind of… s-scared." he manages to get out.

"Nothing’s going to hurt you anymore. I promise."

People have been saying that too him a lot. But Michael can’t blame him for being hesitant. Just a few hours ago he was sitting behind that fence, waiting for Michael to come home so that they could talk like normal. So obliviously content to the fact that he’s been missing for the past six years.

"My parents are going to be so mad at me." he murmurs, "I’ve been bad. I left the house."

She doesn’t correct him, not yet. “What do you think is going to happen?”

He doesn’t want to tell her, but he trusts Barbara, and he knows that she’s not a bad person. “They’re going to keep me downstairs in my room for a long time. No food. Sometimes they’ll come down and hurt me?”

"Do they do things like that a lot?"

He nods slightly.

"Gavin." she says slowly, "You’re never going to have to see those people ever again. You won’t be living with them anymore, because they’re going to be far away from you. And you’re going to be safe from now on."

"Where are they going?"

"I’m not sure yet, but it’s not going to be anywhere near you. Is that okay with you?"

"…I guess so." he says slowly, "But who’s going to take care of me now? I can’t live in that house by myself!"

Gavin starts to worry and panic at the idea, and Michael starts rubbing his thumb on the back of his hand in an attempt to calm him. He’s trying to keep as quiet as possible so that he won’t ruin the concentration. Barbara’s just doing her job after all. He’s only here for emotional support.

"You can go where ever you want, Gavin. But I know for a fact that your real parents are desperate to see you again. Would you be alright with living with them?"

"My  _real_  parents?” his eyebrows come together in confusion at the thought.

"Yeah. Christie and David are not your real parents. When you were younger, they stole you away." she explains lightly.

He’s already had this explained to him a few times, but it still hasn’t really sunken in. Michael understands though. If somebody came up to him and told him that he wasn’t really his mother and father’s kid, he wouldn’t believe it either.

"I know… But I didn’t think that I had  _other_ parents.”

She gives him a worried look for a moment, before opening up her briefcase and taking out some papers.

"Do you recognize these people?"

She puts two large pictures on the table in front of them.

Michael can assume that they are Gavin’s real parents. He remembers Ray describing them as having lots of tattoo’s and piercings, and that’s exactly what these two look like.

The guy has a scruffy beard and brown hair, while the woman has short blonde hair and a septum ring. Ray was right, they don’t look like the type of people that would adopt a young British boy, but they look like nice.

Michael realizes that it’s been really quiet for a while, and looks over at Gavin.

He’s just sitting there, looking at the pictures with his jaw dropped open. His eyes are wide with a mixture of bewilderment and another emotion that Michael can’t place.

"That’s…" he whispers it at first, but then stands up so that he can lean over the table and look down at the photographs more closely, "That’s my  _parents_!”

Gavin lets go of his hand to pick up the pictures, and he holds them so close to his face that Michael’s worried he’s going to hurt his eyes.

"Oh my gosh…" he’s gone back to whisper, and just seems to be in a state of shock.

Michael looks over to Barbara and sees that she’s just watching him too. They’re both trying to understand what’s going on through his head, and if he really does recognize those two as his parents.

"That’s them! I remember them now!" he almost yells it, and then a huge relieved grin spreads across his face, "Michael, look! It’s my mum and dad!"

He puts the photos in front of Michael’s face and he’s practically jumping up and down with joy. It’s the exact reaction you would expect from a nine year old boy who hasn’t seen his parents in a long time.

Maybe somewhere deep inside of him, Gavin is still just a little boy. Unable to grow up because all of those years that were stolen away. But looking at him right now, practically hugging the photos to his chest, is enough to make anybody smile.

"Sit down, you idiot!" Michael yells out playfully with a grin on his face. It only serves in making Gavin more happy and bouncy.

"Their names are Geoff and Griffon Ramsey." Barbara says, trying not to let the huge grin on her face show. It’s obvious she’s trying to keep professional, but Gavin’s attitude is so heart warming.

It’s crazy how fast he can change the atmosphere in the room from sad and dreary to amusing and joyful.

It’s good to see him like this again. He’s always so excitable and happy, but after everything went down today he’s been so quiet and shy. It was worrying to see him so uncharacteristically terrified and nervous.

"I remember that!" Gavin practically leaps for joy when he hears their names. Michael wonders if they’ll ever get him to sit back down properly.

"I remember eating dinner with them, and hugging them, and playing games with them, and letting them tuck me in at night! They were my parents! My real parents!" he’s got tears in his eyes at this point, but they’re not falling yet. The huge grin is still spread across his face.

"They’ve been worried sick about you, Gavin." Barbara says once Gavin stops talking.

"Have they?" he asks, finally looking away from the photos and towards her.

"Yes. They didn’t know where you were for the past six years."

Gavin grin drops and he seems to remember something, “They thought I was dead. Michael said that earlier. Why did everybody think I was dead?”

At least he’s not being shy anymore, and he’s just acting like his normal self. But the questions are going to be hard to explain, especially when nobody really knows what happened.

"Gavin, you have to understand that you were kidnapped at a very young age. And then for six years nobody has seen a trace of you. No clues, no suspects, nothing." she explains.

Whenever the room goes silent it’s because he’s thinking about something. Michael and Barbara don’t speak a word, and let him take as much time as he needs.

He sits back down, and then looks at the two pictures of his parents again.

Barbara’s cell phone rings, and she quickly answers it so that the noise won’t disturb Gavin’s thoughts. He doesn’t pay much attention to it anyways.

"Hello?" she asks into the phone, "Yes. I have him in here with me. Both him and his friend Michael. Let me come out and talk to them first."

The conversation only lasted a few moments.

"Gavin?" she asks, as soon as he hears his name he looks up at her, "Your parents are here. Your real parents, Geoff and Griffon Ramsey."

His eyes widen and he looks terrified. “What!? They’re here? In this building!?”

"Yeah. And they  _really_  want to see you. Are you okay with that?”

"I…I think so…" he begins shaking a little bit, and Michael puts an arm around his shoulders.

"I’m going to go talk to them first. You and Michael can come out and see them whenever you’re ready." she says, while collecting her papers, and turning off the tape recorder.

She leaves the two pictures of Geoff and Griffon. “You can keep those, if you want.” she says to Gavin. He nods quickly, and she gives him a smile.

Before leaving, she tells them how brave they are again.

Michael stands up as the door closes, and Gavin jumps out of his seat. Before he can even process it, Gavin has his arms wrapped around him in a hug, and his face and buried into his neck.

He’s still shaking slightly, and Michael can feel his tears soaking his shoulder. He rubs his back comfortingly, just letting the silence fill the room once again.

"Thank you for saving me." It’s muffled, and it’s hard to make out through the shaky breathing. But Michael will remember those words for the rest of his life.

"It’s okay." he whispers, "I’ve got you."

Gavin shudders a little at those words, and Michael wonders why.

He’s finally released from the hug, but they don’t move very far away from each other.

"My parents are out there." Gavin whispers.

"I know." Michael wipes a tear off of his face with his thumb, and then presses a soft kiss to his forehead. "Are you okay?"

He doesn’t answer the question. “What if they don’t like me?”

"Why wouldn’t they like you?"

Gavin gives a weak shrug, “I don’t know… Because I’m broken? Because I’m not their little nine year old boy anymore? Because I’ve been calling somebody else mum and dad for the past six years instead of them?”

"Gavin. Listen to me." he holds the boy in front of him by the shoulders, "For six years they’ve had to live without you. Not knowing where you are, or what really happened to you. Not knowing if you were dead or alive. And then a few hours ago they got a phone call saying that somebody found you. Alive and safe. They’re probably  _so_  relieved.”

He looks down at his shoes, and doesn’t say anything for a while. It’s a surprise that the poor boy doesn’t have a headache considering all the things he’s been told and all of the information he’s had to process in such a short amount of time.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. They’re going to like you, Gavin. Because you’re still their little boy. Just a little older. And you’re a great boy." he smirks playfully.

Gavin snickers a little at that, “Do you think I’m a great boy, Michael?”

Michael grins, “I think you’re the  _greatest_.”

He’s not crying anymore, and his grin is just as wide.

He pauses for a moment and ponders Michael’s words. “I’ve never had somebody care about me so much. It’s weird.”

"A good weird?"

He grins again, “Definitely a good weird.”

"Do you want to know why I care about you so much?" he doesn’t give Gavin a chance to respond, "Because you’re  _my_  boy too.”

"You my boy, Michael!" Gavin giggles.

It’s nice to see him smiling and laughing. Seeing him cry and panic isn’t anything he wants to experience again. He doesn’t want to watch helplessly as Gavin squeezes his eyes closed, clenches his fist, and raises them up to his temples.

"You ready to go out there and see them?" Michael asks.

"I…Yeah." Gavin nods, putting on a brave face.

Barbara was right, he really is brave. Probably the bravest person Michael knows.

He opens the door first, and the noise of the police station returns to them. Michael sees his own parents there, but he doesn’t pay attention to them. What he looks at instead are the two adults that are standing across the room, talking to Barbara. Geoff and Griffon Ramsey.

Gavin comes out of the room behind him, and his eyes automatically connect to his parents. They aren’t looking at him yet, nobody has even noticed that they’ve left the room.

It’s good, because Michael can watch Gavin’s reaction, and if he starts to have a panic attack then they can go back into the room without any attention. He watches and waits for Gavin’s fist to raise to the sides of his head, but it doesn’t happen.

He just stands there, his face unmoving, but his eyes wide.

The door closes loudly behind them, and it causes Gavin to jump a little. The noises causes everybody to look over. But his eyes never leave his parents figures, even when they see him and their faces drop in shock and amazement.

"That’s…that’s them…" he whispers to Michael quietly, still without looking away.

He can’t help but smile, “Yeah. Why don’t you go see them?”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, the space beside him his empty.

Gavin runs across the room, towards his parents, as fast as he possibly can. Griffon has her hands covering her mouth, and there’s tears pouring down their cheeks. They’d probably be running too if they weren’t in such shock.

It must be mind blowing. To see your son running toward you at full speed after you haven’t seen him in six years.

As soon as he’s standing in front of them he stops running. He just stands there, unable to move, looking them over from head to toe. He’s just basking in the feel of having his parents nearby, and seeing the expression on their face. Pure relief that he’s safe and in front of them once again.

Michael can’t stop the grin that spreads across his face when Gavin jumps into his parents arms and holds them as tight as he can. He has his face buried into their shoulders and they’re holding him just as tight.

It’s such a touching, emotional, and personal scene that Michael almost wants to look away so that he won’t ruin it.

He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up to see that it’s his own father and mother standing next to him.

"You did good, kid." his dad smiles down at him, and Michael lets out a chuckle, then goes back to watching Gavin’s reunion.

He can hear Gavin’s loud sobs from here, and he takes comfort in the fact that they’re no longer in pain or agony. Because he’s back in his parents arms, and everything is good again.


	7. Chapter 7

"I think I’m ready." Gavin says confidently after taking a deep breath.

Michael smirks, “Only if you’re sure. You don’t have to do this yet.”

"I know… But it’ll be good. Might trigger some old memories, you know?"

"You idiot, you already said that you remember everything."

"Yeah, but it’ll still be top."

Michael has to laugh at that.

He and Gavin are standing outside of the front door to the Ramsey house. They only live across town from Michael, so it’s not that far away. It’s still crazy to think that Gavin was still in this town, so close to his parents yet so far away.

Geoff and Griffon are standing behind them, watching in amusement as the two bicker back and forth playfully.

"Just hurry up and open the damn door if you’re gonna go in." Geoff says with fake annoyance. The two boys just laugh.

Michael really liked Gavin’s parents. Geoff curses a lot like he does, and Griffon was so pretty and creative. They were really awesome people.

Gavin, on the other hand, absolutely  _loves_  his parents. So much that he’s constantly hugging them and trying to crawl on Geoff’s back to annoy him. It’s amusing to watch because it’s like he hasn’t been gone at all. Gavin’s swung into the role of an actual healthy family very quickly, and it was surprising to everybody how fast he’s adjusted.

The only thing he hasn’t done yet is go back to his old house. It’s been a whole week since he’s been reunited with his parents, and everything’s been so hectic that Gavin’s decided to hold off on it. Everybody else agreed, it might put too much strain on him.

The Ramsey’s and Gavin have been spending their nights sleeping over to Michael’s house. His parents definitely didn’t mind having company over and the group spent a lot of their free time playing Xbox, cracking dumb jokes, and just letting Gavin bond with his family naturally.

But they’ve still been going back and forth to the police station a lot, being questioned and having to retell the same things over and over again.

It turns out that remeeting his parents triggered a lot of those old memories. Including the day he was taken. Apparently he’s told the story from his nine year old perspective a few times to questioning officers and to his own parents, but Michael has yet to hear it. He’s not sure if Gavin wants him to know about it, and his captivity. So he’s not going to push.

Gavin twists the door knob and opens up the door to his home. Michael walks in beside him, and instead of taking in what the house looks like, he watches Gavin’s face.

That was always a fun thing to do. Watching Gavin’s facial expressions when he goes through moments like this.

Sometimes it’s crazy how much he doesn’t know about the world. They discovered a few days ago that Gavin doesn’t know what ice-cream is. It quickly resulted in them all driving to the nearest ice-cream shop and buying him some. His reaction was priceless, and he’s pretty sure that Geoff filmed it.

Simple things like that are so foreign to Gavin, and it makes Michael realize how often he takes those things for granted.

They started quizzing him on different pop culture things, and since he had no clue what any of the questions were about, they’d be laughing their asses off at his answers. Gavin loved it. He liked being around people that loved him, and being silly just to make them laugh. He felt like he belonged, and it was an amazing feeling.

"Oh my gosh…" Gavin’s eyes are huge, and that toothy grin has grown even wider. "I remember it! This is my house! I remember dad and I playing on those stairs and then falling down and breaking my arm!"

He points to the stair case in front of them and begins laughing out loud.

"Of course,  _that’s_ what he remembers.” Geoff jokes.

Both he and Griffon start laughing when Gavin grabs Michael’s hand with enthusiasm and begins dragging him around the house. Looking through the different rooms that he’s remembering all so well. Even the closets were looked in.

"Living room!" Gavin announces before they even walk in.

He doesn’t act like a kid that’s been kidnapped for six years. He’s still the same Gavin from behind the fence, making jokes and being silly.

Michael looks around the room with interest. They certainly do have a nice house. Griffon’s a wood carver, so she has a few of her sculptures decorating the house. They’re all so cool and unique that he and Gavin stop to awe at that every time they come across one.

"Michael!" Gavin yells, which snaps him out of his thoughts.

He knows that Gavin is safe here, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a mini heart attack every time that he hears the boy yell out his name in pure shock. It happens a lot though, since Gavin’s still getting used to things, and whenever he first sees something amazing, he feels the need to alert Michael about it.

He feels instant relief when he sees that Gavin is just looking at a picture on a shelf.

"What is it, Gav?" he asks as he walks over.

"It’s me!" Gavin yells, and then grabs the picture off of the shelf, "It’s me as a baby, Michael! Look at me!"

He shoves the picture frame in front of Michael’s face with excitement.

It’s a photo of a little boy. Probably only around the age of eight or nine. He’s standing there with a huge grin on his face, and an ice-cream cone in his hands. It’s not hard to tell that it’s Gavin, especially since he’s already seen a picture of his friend as a tyke on the missing children’s website.

"Look! I even liked ice-cream back then!"

Michael remembers that Gavin’s never actually seen a picture of himself as a child. He may remember small things like memories with his parents before he was taken and stuff, but he still can’t remember what he looked like, or what ice-cream is. It turns out the O’Reily’s deprived him of a lot of things.

Michael studies the pictures with him, “You were pretty cute.”

Gavin just simply stares at the younger him in awe, before finally asking, “Cute enough for baby Michael to kiss?”

He snickers at that, and then presses a kiss to Gavin’s cheek, “Eh. Maybe. You could have been first kiss material.”

Gavin lets out a laugh and looks over the photo again before Geoff and Griffon walk into the room.

"Oh, that’s my favorite picture!" Griffon smiles as she takes note of the photo that’s still in Gavin’s hands.

"That was taken about a week before it happened." Geoff points out, "I think it might have been the last picture we took of you."

There’s other pictures of Gavin on the shelf, in various ages, and they spent an hour just looking at them and making jokes. They all laugh until their stomachs hurt at a picture of him making a silly face, and then Gavin mimicking it perfectly.

It’s nice to just watch Gavin bond with his family. They’re so perfect together, and they get along so well.

Griffon ordered a pizza earlier, and now that the delivery boy has come to the door, Gavin’s running to the kitchen, once again dragging Michael behind him.

"You know that you’re going to rip my arm out of it’s socket one of these days, right?"

"Pizza has arrived!" Geoff announces, coming into the room with the flat square box. He sets it on the table, but before the boys can dig in, Griffon stops them.

"Plates first!" she announces.

Everybody lets out a groan, and she smirks.

"I’ll get them!" Gavin calls out and runs over to the cupboard.

"Look at that, he even remembers where the plates are kept." Geoff comments lightly.

Michael chuckles, “Good thing you guys didn’t move anything around or else he’d be pretty confused.”

Gavin reaches into the cupboard and pulls out a stack of four plates for them to use.

"We actually considered moving a few years ago. Good thing we didn’t." Griffon smiles.

Everybody jumps at the ear shattering sound of glass breaking.

It terrifies them all for a moment. Because even though Gavin is safe here, and nothing bad is going to happen, it’s hard not to baby him and freak out every time he’s near something that’s even remotely dangerous.

They all look over in panic at Gavin, who’s just looking down at the millions of pieces of broken plates that are littered on the floor he’s standing on.

They’re all about to roll their eyes at his clumsy nature, and then laugh about it, but then they see the look on his face. Like he’s done something horribly wrong and just sentenced himself to death. Michael’s never seen such pure guilt and horror in somebody’s eyes.

"I-I…" Gavin stutters, just staring at the huge mess he’s made.

Four plates all shattering onto the floor at once makes for quite a lot of broken shards scattered at his feet.

Gavin raises his two clenches fists to his temples and squeezes his eyes shut. Michael’s eyes widen as soon as he sees it.

"I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!" Gavin yells out, crouching down slightly, as though protecting himself. "I didn’t mean to!"

"Gavin!" Geoff yells, trying to calm him down.

Everybody stands up at this point, but it’s no use, Gavin walks backwards to the corner of the cupboards, still in that stance, repeating apologizes while beginning to hyperventilate.

Everything’s gone from peaceful and carefree to disastrous and stressful within seconds.

"I’m so sorry! It was an accident! Please don’t hit me! I didn’t mean to!" he keeps pleading.

Michael runs over and grabs him by the two hands that are still raised to his head.

It’s like he’s gone into protective reassuring mode, and the only thing he cares about right now is Gavin.

"Gavin." he states loudly.

As soon as Michael touches him he flinches visibly and tears stream down his cheeks. He continues to spew off apologizes.

"Gavin. Listen to me." he tries to pry Gavin’s hands away, but the boy is persistent to block everything out.

"I swear I didn’t mean to."

"Nobody’s mad at you, Gavin." he states, and finally does get his hands away from his head. It causes Gavin’s eyes to fly open, and Michael sees the trained fear swimming inside of them.

He doesn’t speak anymore though, he just stands there staring at Michael’s face. His breathing is still fast and uncontrolled.

"Gavin, breath."

"I-I-" he stutters.

"No, Gavin. Just breath."

They stand there for a moment, his hands still wrapped around Gavin’s wrists, just watching as he attempts to calm himself down.

The room is quiet other than the sound of him trying to even out his breathing.

Geoff and Griffon slowly go to stand behind him, not saying a word, but needing to be close by. Michael’s good at this, so they’re not about to interfere.

He finally begins to breath in and out deeply, and he’s stopped shaking. But he still just continues to watch Michael.

"Are you okay?" Michael asks.

"Y-Yes." he stutters, while nodding his head. He still seems a little unsure.

Gavin’s about to look down but Michael stops him. “Don’t look at the plates. Just look at me, your mom, and dad.”

He does what he’s told, and takes turns studying each one of them briefly. They all look so concerned, and it makes him want to put his hands back, but Michael’s grip is stopping him.

He made them worried, and that makes him feel guilty.

"I…" he whispers, "I really am sorry. I didn’t mean t-"

"We don’t care about the stupid plates." Michael says, "We care about you. And we care about you being alright. What just happened was  _not_  you being alright.”

Gavin nods, that information helps settle him.

"Dropping those plates was an accident. Nobody blames you for it, and nobody is going to hurt you for it. Nobody is ever going to hurt you for doing anything anymore."

Gavin’s face crumples up in distress, and he starts sobbing. Michael quickly wraps his arms around the boy and brings him close. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be scared.” he murmurs, “Let it all out.”

He feels Geoff and Griffon join in on the hug, wrapping their own arms around them both as Gavin just continues to sob and cry loudly into his shoulder.

He realizes how lucky Gavin is to have such kind and understanding parents.

*

They sit in the living room afterwards.

Gavin’s head is resting on Michael’s lap, and his feet are in Geoff’s. Griffon’s sitting on the other side of him, running a loving hand through the stressed out boy’s hair.

He fell asleep a little while ago. All of that hysteria and crying really beat him out.

"Does he do that a lot?" Geoff questions.

"I’ve only seen it a few times. I think it’s a defense mechanism. Probably did it a lot when those assholes were hurting him. I guess it’s a huge change of pace going from there to here."

"What do you mean?" Griffon asks.

"Well, there he was with people that he was practically brain washed to think were nice. I remember him telling me that he had nice parents once, and I believed him. He’s used to being abused and hurt by people he loves, I guess. Being taken away from them, and being given to people that actually do love him back must be hard to adjust to."

"I didn’t think about it like that." she comments quietly.

He’s obviously been thinking about it a lot.

He tells them the story about when he loaned Gavin his PSP, and the bruises and terrified state he was in the next time they saw each other. Every time the subject of Gavin’s abuse is brought up, he sees Geoff’s fist clench.

"What do you think happened?"

"I don’t know. He’s never told me." Michael answers.

"Besides just giving a straight out ‘yes’ answer, he hasn’t talked much about the abuse. All we know is that it happened frequently." Geoff informs him.

"The important thing is that he’s here and alive." Griffon murmurs, staring down at him and then smirks, "His hair is still so messy. I remember always trying to brush it but it would just stick up in all crazy directions."

Geoff laughs at the memories, “And he’s still got that stupid British accent after all these years. You’d think it would eventually fade but of course not.”

Griffon joins in with her own laughter, “I can’t even count how many times I’d find you sat on the floor with him, trying to give him an American accent.”

Michael smiles, just listening to the two reminisce about their son.

“ _Gavin, say ‘Hello, mom’_  and he’d just give me this huge fucking grin and go _'Ello, mum_!” Geoff mocks.

The three of them laugh loudly, and it causes Gavin to stir.

"Guess it’s time to get him to bed" Geoff says, while standing up.

"Do you want to stay the night, Michael? I can call your parents and tell them." Griffon says to him as her husband picks up Gavin.

"Yeah, sure."

*

He hasn’t seen Gavin’s bedroom yet. It still looks like a young boys room. It’s painted dark blue and there’s still toys scattered about. Griffon tells him that they didn’t even touch the room after it happened.

Michael lays in the bed next to Gavin, smiling as his parents kiss their son on the forehead. “I love you, Gavin.” they both say to him afterwards.

"We love you too, Michael." Griffon smiles lovingly. He takes note that her smile is a lot warmer than the one Christie had on all that time ago. She bends down and kisses him on the forehead too, and then Geoff does the same. Afterwards the man ruffles his hair, and tells him to shut up and go to bed. He smirks at the affection.

They turn off the light and close the door, and soon the only thing he can hear is the fading sound of their footsteps down the hall.

"Finally, I thought they’d never leave." he hears a whisper beside him.

"Jesus Christ, Gavin! You scared the shit out of me!" Michael whispers loudly, and turns to look at his friend. "I thought you were sleeping!"

"Of course I wasn’t, I was just listening to you guys gossiping about me."

"We weren’t gossiping about you, you moron." Michael rolls his eyes, and realizes that the light from the moon, that’s shining through the window, is the only reason he’s able to see Gavin’s face in front of him.

"Yes you were, don’t lie to me, you silly sausage."

"You’re an idiot."

"I really like them, you know?" Gavin comments lightly. But it’s obvious that he’s talking about Geoff and Griffon.

"Yeah, they’re nice people."

"Not nice like the O’Reily’s though." Gavin murmurs, "These ones are  _actually_ nice.”

Michael smiles sadly, “Yeah. You’ve hit the parental jackpot with these two.”

He feels Gavin’s fingers lightly brush across his face. He snickers a little at the contact. Gavin just continues to study his face with his fingers. Michael doesn’t mind it, it’s actually pretty soothing.

It’s quiet for a while, until Gavin finally asks, “Do you want to hear about it?”

"About what?"

"The day I was taken away. What happened."

His eyes widen and he doesn’t respond for a little while. Gavin’s fingers continue to lightly stroke his face, his expression unchanging.

Besides what Ray’s told him, he hasn’t heard much about it. It’s not like it’s a happy story. It’s about his best friend being kidnapped at the young age of nine. He knows Gavin’s told the story numerous times, but he didn’t think that he’d ever get to hear it. And he was sort of okay with that.

But if Gavin’s willing to tell him, then maybe he should listen. It might help him, and after seeing what happened earlier today with the dishes, Gavin needs all the help he can get.

"Okay." is all he’s able to whisper.

It doesn’t take long for Gavin to jump into the story. Usually whenever he tells stories, they’re with such upbeat passionate emotion and laughter, but this time it’s not.

"I was out in my front yard." he begins, murmuring it quietly, "Running around and playing. Mum told me that we were going to be having dinner in an hour, so I went outside to play for a bit. That was so long ago. I was only nine years old."

Michael remembers Ray telling him about this. How Gavin was playing in his front yard when it happened.

"What happened?" he whispers.

"A car stopped, and there were two people inside. I remember it so well now." his voice sounds monotone and somber, "They asked me if I wanted to go with them to the playground. Mum and dad always told me not to talk to strangers, so I told them no, and I turned around to run back inside the house, but one of them jumped out and grabbed me."

His eyes turn dark as he remembers, and Michael takes the hand not studying his face and holds it gently. Not wanting to interrupt the story. But Gavin shows no sign of noticing it anyway.

"She dragged me into the backseat with her, and put a hand over my mouth. But I was still screaming as loud as I could, and kicking my feet and trying to get away from her. But I couldn’t. The car started driving away, and I felt so helpless. No matter how much I fought to get away, she just held me in place and started humming songs and whispering things into my ear. It was so scary…"

It’s quiet for a long time, and it’s obvious that Gavin’s still thinking judging by the unmoving expression on his face. Michael rubs his thumb along the boys open palm, giving small amounts of comfort.

"What was she whispering to you?" his voice fills the silence.

"She kept saying things like ‘ _Shhh, mummy’s here. Mummy’s got you. It’s okay now._ ' But I wouldn't stop, and I could hear them talking to one another. And then she took her hand off and held a cloth to my mouth instead.”

Michael closes his eyes as he listens to the story. He wants to know everything about it, but at the same time he doesn’t want to hear it at all.

"Then I got really tired, and I blacked out. When I woke up I was in my room…in the basement of their house. My head was  _really_ sore, and I couldn’t remember anything. Only my name. And I think I knew how old I was, but that was it. They told me that I was their son, and I bumped my head and that’s why I couldn’t remember anything.”

Michael’s heard kidnapping stories before. As a kid you hear about ‘stranger danger’ and other children being stolen away from their parents, but actually hearing your best friend talking about his experience is terrifying.

"What would they do to you?" he almost doesn’t want to ask. There’s still this idiotic part of his brain that’s telling him that if he doesn’t know about it, then it hasn’t happened.

Gavin smiles, as though the last six year haven’t existed. “Loads of stuff.”

Michael doesn’t ask him to elaborate, but he does it anyway.

"I’m not sure how much I should tell you. I went into a lot of detail when I told everybody else, and my parents even started crying. I don’t want you to cry. So I’ll be brief." he smirks, and it’s obvious that he’s attempting to treat it like a joke. Because if the smile falls, then so will the tears.

"They didn’t treat me nice a lot of the time. They’d yell at me, calling me pathetic and worthless if I didn’t do something right. I was punished a lot for making simple mistakes or accidents. Sometimes I’d sit locked down in that basement for days on end. Without food or water, and if I made any noise they’d come down and beat me. They’d force me to do lots of things that I _really_  didn’t want to do. I’ve been thrown down the stairs a few times or thrown onto the concrete floor. They’d hurt me so much that sometimes I’d black out from the pain. And just… I don’t know.” he gives a small shrug, “According to the doctors and police men, it was just lots of mental, sexual, and physical abuse, ya’know?”

He doesn’t know. And he doesn’t think he wants to.

Michael squeezes his eyes shut even harder as Gavin lists off all the things with such a nonchalant attitude.

"Being outside and away from it all is so different. I know now that what they’ve done to me is bad. I mean, I knew it was bad then too. I knew that other parents couldn’t be treating their children like this. Because it hurt, Michael. It hurt a lot."

He doesn’t talk for a little while, and takes a moment to think over his words.

"When I first started to tell mum and dad, and the police officers, and everybody else about it, I was surprised at how shocked they were. And afterwards they told me that a lot of it was illegal and my life was in danger every second I was with them. And I still don’t really understand it."

"Jesus Christ, Gavin." Michael murmurs, "Were they ever nice to you?"

"Oh yeah, of course. Usually it was after a load of abuse. Sort of like they were apologizing for doing those things to me. But they’d hug me, and say sorry a millions times, and sometimes even cry for hurting me. They always felt so guilty, and it made me feel bad. And they’d swear to never do it again. But they always did."

He wishes more than anything than Gavin didn’t have to go through that. And when he sees the smile gone, and tears streaming down the boy’s face, he wants to protect him more than anything.

"That day you gave me the game," he continues, and Michael nods. Gavin’s still not very familiar with the names of video game consoles.

"PSP." he offers, softly.

"Yeah." Gavin snickers a little at the fact that he didn’t remember it’s name, but then turns serious once again, "Uh, I was downstairs in my room playing with it. And then she came down before I could hide it."

It’s like he’s painting a picture in Michael’s mind. He can imagine all of these things so well. A younger Gavin playing out in his front yard, screaming in the back seat of a car as a hand covers his mouth, sitting on his bed playing a video game for the first time.

"She asked me where I got it, and I told her that I found it. She started to accuse me of going outside, and I began pleading with her and saying that I hadn’t. She ripped it out of my hands and started hitting me with it. Then she threw it across the room and continued hitting me herself."

Michael closes his eyes at that. He’s a lot like Geoff in the sense that hearing about the abuse makes him want to go murder those two people. It’s hard to imagine Gavin curled up in a ball, being brutally punched and kicked by two people he thought cared about him.

"Afterwards she apologized, and said she loved me. And that it was an accident, and it would never happen again." he quiet for a few seconds, "They said that a lot."

It’s no wonder why he’s a little messed up mentally. Geoff and Griffon are always saying that they love him, and that they’d never hurt him. But Gavin’s already used to hearing those things, and then getting beaten along with it.

"I didn’t drop the PSP. She hit me with it and threw it across the room, you’ve got to believe me, Michael!" Gavin cries, and his voice goes a little above a whisper. He doesn’t want Geoff and Griffon coming in to find their son crying.

"Shhh…. Shhhh… Calm down." he murmurs, and then takes Gavin’s face in his hands. Their eyes have adjusted to the darkness by now, so they’re able to see each other a little more clearly. "I don’t care about the PSP."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." he says, "I want you to understand that you’re not going to be hurt like that again. And do you want to know why?"

Gavin takes a long time to respond, but Michael is patient in waiting for him.

"…Why?"

"Because there’s no more fence. And nothing’s keeping me from protecting you now."

He presses a soft kiss to Gavin’s forehead.

They don’t speak anymore as Michael calmly runs his fingers through the boys hair, and the soothing motion helps him to fall into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
